


Luna

by herainab



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, Cult, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Character Death, Polygamy, Underage - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-28 10:08:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7636126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herainab/pseuds/herainab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She opens her palm to reveal the reveal the crushed yellow weed. It’s a dandelion. A flower she’s told me only grows beyond the fence. And I realise, the flower gives her hope. Hope that life can go on no matter how bad her losses her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Luna

She whirls past me in the direction of the green meadow.

She’s fast.

Faster than all the other kids here. None of them can keep up with her and she leaves them in the dust.

It’s helped her when the boys are picking on her, pulling at her dark braids she wears and calling her names.

She’s sneaky too. She can scale a tree in seconds, climbing to the highest branch and hiding up there until it’s dark. She can scale the side of the silo and the windmill in seconds and be out of sight.

She’s quiet on her feet too. She can sneak up on you, scaring the absolute daylights out of you. Or sneak out of her bedroom or church. She can sneak into the barn or into the Prophet’s house without him even knowing.

Though it is going to get her into trouble one day. She had that in her blood though. Trouble running through her veins. Curiosity. Boldness. Life. It all ran through her veins and she was someone who wanted more and more.

Just like her father.

“Come on Peeta!” she calls back over her shoulder towards me.

I’m supposed to be helping with the building while she’s supposed to be helping the women with preparing lunch and sewing.

She does this every time.

“Go on boy,” Papa says to me.

“But Papa–”

“You won’t be a boy for much longer,” he reminds me. “Go on, we’ve got it from here.”

I drop my tool down on the grass and go chasing after Katniss.

A few of the other kids have left their mothers’ sides to play in the meadow.

Katniss has disappeared though.

I know where she’s gone.

“You know, if they catch us out here then we’ll be punished,” I remind her as I find her on the other side of the fence. The fence that is supposed to keep us in.

She’s found a flaw in the system.

They turn the electricity to the fence off during this time of the day for a couple of hours. She told me to listen and I did. The usual hum was gone and we were free to explore the woods on the other side of the fence, but not for too long.

“I’m going to run away you know?”

“You won’t get five miles,” I reply, sitting down beside her on the boulder and looking up at the blue sky.

“I will. I’ll go that way,” she says, pointing to the mountain that is over five miles away.

“You don’t know where it goes,” I say. “You should just stay here.”

“There’s a better life out there for us, Peeta.”

“ _This_ is our life.”

“No it’s not. This is an institution run by men who have dreams of controlling people. This isn’t the way of living. This is torture. We’re brainwashed into believing them and the Gods and that this is the life for us. That the outside world is a dangerous place. It’s not. _This_ place is dangerous.”

“How do you know that? You’ve never lived beyond the walls.”

“I just know it.”

“Stop believing in those delusions your father put in your head.”

“They weren’t delusions.”

“They were, Katniss. That’s what got him killed!”

She squeezes her fists together, bites her lip and tries her best to not cry.

I exhale the breath and sigh. “I’m sorry Katniss.”

“My father wasn’t lying.”

“And why do you believe that?”

“Hope.”

“Hope?”

She opens her palm to reveal the crushed yellow weed.

“It’s a dandelion,” she tells me, sobbing slightly. “They don’t grow in there but they do out here. My father told me about these flowers. It was the first flower I saw after his execution. He told me how they gave him hope. He believed and he wants me to believe.” She sniffles. “He said life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good.”

I look into her grey eyes and see her tremble.

“He wants me to leave and find my dandelion in the spring,” she whispers. “I can’t stay here. I’ll die, just like my father did.”

“I won’t let you,” I state, grabbing her wrists. “I won’t let you die. I’ll protect you for the rest of our lives. I’ll promise you a good life.”

“You can’t,” she chokes out, tears falling down her cheeks.

And then I remember.

I let go of her wrists and fall away from her because the reality is all too real.

We’re back under the fence and in the meadow, Katniss’ squashed dandelion tucked deep inside the pocket of her dress and the tears dried on her face.

Overhead, a flock of birds fly singing a tune. A tune that is so complex, they’d have had to have learned it from someone they enjoyed listening to.

It’s the tales Katniss has told me about the mockingjay.

It’s then that I want a better life outside of the fence.

* * *

_5 years later_

A soft tap sounds on my bedroom window. It’s dark still. Probably close to midnight.

And whoever is knocking on my window is breaking all the rules our leader put in place.

Curfew was always at 8pm for everyone unless you were a soldier. Anyone caught after that would be punished severely.

I cross the room as quietly as I can on my crutch and make it to the window. I see her outside of the window, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

15-year-old Katniss is in her nightgown, a pair of boots on her feet and her hair tucked up into a cap.

“What are you doing?”

“Let me in,” she whispers.

I pull the window up as high as I can, as quietly as I can and watch her climb inside, shutting the blinds as she climbs in.

“What are you doing? You shouldn’t be out.”

She looks down at her shoes.

She has been doing this for a few years now. Sneaking out once her mother remarried her new husband. She couldn’t stand being under the roof of that pig of a man. Living in the compound with a man who happened to be the nephew of the Prophet. He had four wives and 16 children already. And a marriage to Mallory Everdeen brought him to be expecting his 17th child, due within the month.

Katniss had cursed the Prophecy for forcing her mother to remarry and carry this man’s children.

She sits on the edge of my worn-out mattress.

I take a seat beside her, lowering my body gently beside hers and looking into her eyes.

I’d be lying if I said Katniss wasn’t beautiful. She was the dark-haired beauty of Panem who shone like the night sky. Her eyes were like sparkling stars and the color of silver moonlight. She had the voice of an angel. The spirit of a bird. She had all this life within her soul and she made days great.

But when we were 11, a new rule was implemented.

The boys and girls were forbidden to get close to one another. Classes were separated into sexes, and you couldn’t play together during church. The leaders saw this as a way of putting a stop to those forbidden relationships that could form, especially as us boys were all told who we’d wife on our 9th birthdays.

And Katniss will never be mine. She will marry when she finally bleeds, which the leaders assume will be quite soon. She’ll be married to my eldest brother and become his second wife. I will marry Magnolia, Katniss’ 10-year-old sister when the time comes.

It broke my heart finding out that I wouldn’t be with her.

I couldn’t imagine doing that to Katniss’ sister.

But I promised Katniss I’d do everything I could to protect Magnolia and treat her right.

She reminded me to follow the rules as she didn’t want to see me get hurt.

I notice in the moonlight Katniss’ nightgown is stained.

“Youe mother is going to kill you for dirtying your gown,” I tell her.

But she sobs.

And I realise it’s not dirt.

It’s her blood.

She’s become a woman and she’ll be whisked away, stood in front of the Prophet and made to declare her life to her husband. Give him as many children as he desires and serve him as the true king he is. If she follows this, she will become a heavenly mother in heaven.

That’s what the Gods tell us.

“I had hoped to be out of here before this happened,” she cries quietly. “I thought I had more time.”

“You do. Your marriage won’t take place for another month. You’ll still remain at home with your mother while you live your short engagement before the wedding takes place during the next full moon. We can do it. We can get out of here and make for the hills and never look back.”

“Not without Prim, Maggie and Ash,” she tells me.

“Of course not.”

“And Mom if she agrees to come.”

“She might not be able to, Katniss.”

“The baby is due any day now.” She sighs. “If we escape, there’ll be shame brought to our families.”

“And if we escape, we’ll be far from here,” I tell her. “We can get help, maybe come back for them all. Do you know how hard it will be for me to leave my family behind?”

A noise from down the hallway startles us both and soft footfalls sound on the floorboards to my bedroom.

Katniss ducks under the bed and I do my best to pretend I’ve been woken by the phantom pain in my leg.

It’s my father, which I can tell by the steps and I exhale a relieved breath.

The door opens and he pokes his head inside.

“You alright Peeta?” he asks.

I nod and rub at the stump where my leg used to be. “Just the leg.”

“Ok, try and keep it down. Don’t want to wake you sisters up,” he whispers to me and looks to the darkness underneath my bed briefly before looking back up at me. “Try and get some sleep.” He smiles.

“Night Dad.”

He closes the door behind him and Katniss comes out from underneath my bed.

“I don’t want to go home.”

“You have to. If they find out you’re here, you’ll be punished. They’ll see that you’ve bled. Maybe you can do your best to rid the evidence.”

“You know what they do to those who lie about our monthlies.”

I nod. “Yes, but it could be for the best. Go home, soak your nightgown and do everything in your power to prolong your marriage.”

She nods and I kiss the tops of her hands. “Go now. I don’t want you to wake anyone.”

She nods and like a bird of the night, she’s gone, heading for her house.

I fall onto the hard, worn mattress and stare up at the ceiling.

How am I going to watch her marry my brother?

* * *

Madge Undersee is wedded the next afternoon in front of everyone to the Prophet’s grandson. Marvel is a nice boy, had always been nice to us kids as we grew up.

But I have a feeling, a heavy knot inside of my stomach. One that twists when we watch the Prophet perform the ceremony. Madge’s hand shakes as she secures the symbol of marriage onto Marvel’s wrist.

It’s a custom here that the men wear a band from their wives rather than rings. The bands are leather and meant to be indestructible. It’s meant to signify the long marriage they’ll have, that no ties will be broken. Men are buried with their ties on their wrist so when the time of judgement comes, they’ll be allowed into the afterlife, and the amount of ties on their wrist determines how close to the Gods they’ll be. No ties mean you could face the devil. Broken ties also ensure you a trip with the devil.

I swallow the lump in my throat once Madge has secured the band onto Marvel’s wrist. The first of many for Marvel.

Marvel turns to his wife and pins a gold pin to the collar of her dress. A dress that is pure ivory and made by the resident seamstress. The afternoon light makes the pin shine.

It’s the first pin all new husbands pin onto their wife’s wedding dress. The first one is always the symbol of prosperity. First marriages are always the longest and they hope the pin will mean a lifetime of peace within the union.

And the next marriage, a different pin will be pinned to the second wife’s dress and so on.

The woman will live a life of being faithful to her husband until her final days. Unless her husband happens to die – then she’ll be considered for a new marriage after the Prophet’s long meeting with the Gods, who determine who she’ll marry. Most of the time it’s to a man who is already married and quite high up in the Sect. They are the only ones who are allowed to marry someone who isn’t a virgin and wouldn’t judged by the Gods when his death comes.

The new couple kisses, entering into their new lives together, and the rest of us celebrate the new union.

They will live in the compound where the Prophet’s family lives and be waited on by those who have sold their souls to the Gods in return for their life.

The Avoxes were those who were caught escaping, cheating or breaking the rules made by the Sect hundreds of years ago. They were caught and punished.

They had two choices. One, sell their soul in exchange to live out the rest of their lives here in the Sect. They’d have their tongues cut out and would be forced into certain jobs of slavery. Some would serve the Prophet and his family; others would not be so lucky. Some would be forced into working the shit buggy where they’d collect everyone’s shit and piss and deposit it in the septic tanks. Others were forced to do the hard labor chores around the place. Most of the unlucky ones were worked and worked until they dropped dead.

Or the second choice was to die and come face to face with the Devil and the Gods and be judged by them.

One of mine and Katniss’ friends was turned into an Avox. Darius was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, just offering to help a younger girl who had hurt herself. He was accused of interference and brought upon the leaders, elders and the Prophet where they delivered the punishment from The Gods before allowing him to speak.

He chose his soul and tongue.

Most of them did as they didn’t know a life outside of here.

He is one of the lucky ones and gets to serve the family.

He serves Katniss’ family.

During the celebration, a feast is held in honor of the new bride and groom. Sometimes, it’s common for there to be multiple marriages, depending on how many girls bleed for the first time in between the full moons.

The weddings always take place on a full moon. The Gods believe that when the lunar phase aligns the sun, earth and moon, conception will take place. It has been proven by the Prophecy, especially when there has been concepcion reported to have taken place over those four days. Those who conceive during those four nights are called Luna and are believed to bring good luck to everyone within Panem.

And if they deliver on a full moon, the babe is called a Lunarian, who brings good luck to the family. If the babe is a boy, he will be considered to sit as a leader when he is old enough. If the babe is a girl, the Gods will consider her partner carefully. She’ll most likely be partnered with another Lunarian babe or the son of a leader.

Only some Lunas birthed Lunarians, and they were respected amongst the people of Panem.

Except for Katniss. She was a Lunarian, conceived and born on a full moon. She was to be married to another Lunarian or leader’s son. Instead, after her father’s betrayal and death, The Gods reconsidered her marriage and she was partnered with Rye. The Gods believed her to be best suited for him as a second wife rather than a first wife.

Tonight, there will be a blessing ceremony, where an elder woman will make them drink from a goblet filled with a fertility drink before the bride and groom will eventually bed each other in front of the Prophet, elders and leaders in a ceremony. The girl’s blood on the sheets will be enough for the men and they will leave the new couple alone to pray that the stars align and the newly wedded couple will conceive their first child together.

If the man is already married, he can’t bed with his other wives until he conceives a child with his new wife. He must share her bed until she’s carrying his child and then he can return to his other wives.

Lucy, my youngest sister, appears at my side.

“Will you dance with me Peeta?”

I smile down at her and nod, taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor. She doesn’t stand on my feet like she gets to with dad and the boys, but she still enjoys herself as I spin her around and around. She goes off to dance with Dad and I go and get myself a drink.

“Don’t be getting any ideas, boy,” a voice hisses in my ear.

The poisonous voice sends shivers down my spine and I know who owns the voice without even looking.

“You’re engaged to my step-daughter.”

“I know I am.”

“I mean with her eldest sister. Keep your paws off of her.”

“I haven’t even touched her.”

“I know you do. Remember, she’s going to be your brother’s second. She’ll be treated however he wants to treat her,” he hisses. “And I bet he’ll love it when he finds out you’ve been picturing what she looks like underneath her dress since before you were even old enough to know what lust meant. She’s Rye’s, and you’re Magnolia’s. Don’t get any ideas or I’ll have to tell the Prophet.”

I don’t dare move.

“And these nightly meetups better stop or I’ll put an end to them myself.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Lying is a sin here. Do you want to be called a sinner? Brought before the judgement of the Gods?” he asks and I swallow the lump in my throat. “Didn’t think so. Have fun watching your brother marry your lover.”

He’s gone in an instant, making his way towards his heavily pregnant wife. I hear the blood pounding in my ears and swallow the lump in my throat as I catch sight of Katniss dancing with her sisters and brother.

“Peet.”

Rye breaks me from my trance.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he replies, laughing.

“I’m fine, just my leg I think.”

He nods. “Okay, well, the boys and I have some rum if you wanted to come and join us.”

We stand toward the back of the gathering, hidden by the bushes and drink from the bottle of rum.

“Geez, I wish I could be the one taking Madge’s virginity,” Cato tells us. “Or Katniss’.”

Rye perks up beside me. “What’d you say?”

“It’s a compliment. I wish I was the one who gets to take Katniss’ virginity. Lucky you though, you get to take her as your second wife.”

Rye fumes, closing his fists at his side. “Watch your fucking mouth, Cato. I tell the leaders you’re lusting after my girl and have them take your cock. I bet you’d love that.”

Cato shapes up to him. “It’s not just me you should be worried about. Plenty of them look at your fiancée and imagine what she looks like underneath her dress. It’s not our fault you got paired with such a fine arse.”

Cato stumbles into the bushes before he rares back, swinging at Rye. Rye blocks and dodges and delivers another punch to Cato, hitting him in the chest.

Cato’s winded for a moment before he comes charging back, tackling Rye to the ground where the celebration takes place. Everyone stops and watches as the two boys wrestle and fight each other.

Tension had been brewing for months now. And not just between Cato and Rye, but other members of the Sect. They weren’t happy at all and these fights were becoming common occurrences, especially during weddings and other big celebrations where we all gathered together to celebrate some union.

This wasn’t the only fight today. Two men were escorted away from the celebration as they argued about their children who had recently been matched up. Both men weren’t fond of each other, and the fact that their children were marrying was not taken well by them at all.

Rye and Cato are pulled apart, Rye’s wife Johanna coming to his side to ensure he’s alright while Cato’s brothers get him to walk it off.

“What happened?” Johanna asks.

“Cato was saying stuff about Katniss,” I tell Johanna. She swallows the lump in her throat. She knew this would become a regular thing, and it made Rye more and more pissed as he had to listen to their jeers and teasing over his future wife. “You should probably get him home. The baby as well.”

Johanna checks Rye’s cheek once again. “Let me get Elijah and we can go.”

“You’ve got to keep it together,” I whisper to him as Johanna goes to get their son.

“They just keep doing this.”

“You need to block them out. They’re doing it to get a rise out of you in the hopes that you’ll crack and get into trouble,” I tell him. “You’ve been blessed to be partnered with Katniss. Show them – the Gods – how thankful you are.”

“It should have been you,” he replies.

“What?”

“I know Peeta. I know how you feel about her,” he tells me, looking me in the eyes. “She’s a good girl. You deserve her more than anyone else here.”

I look around briefly and then back at him. “Don’t let them hear you say this,” I warn him.

“It’s the truth. She’s your sun, moon and earth. She’s your hope,” he replies.

“You’ve got to promise me something.”

“Yeah?”

“Take care of her, whatever you do. Out of everyone, I’m glad she was partnered with you.”

He smiles at me. “I’ll take care of her the best I can.”

Johanna appears with Elijah in her arms. “Let me get you boys home.”

“Let me walk you both back,” I offer.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to get out of here for a while anyway.”

They allow me to tag along and I carry Elijah. He coos and babbles and I smile back down at him.

“You’re such a beautiful boy,” I tell him as we walk down the path to the Mellark compound.

Some compounds host multiple generations who all share it and live together. Most of them get separate wings of the house for their own families. Wives share rooms with the children. The man gets his own room where he invites his wife to come bed with him for however long he intends. His sole job is to keep his wives happy and provide for the Sect. The wife’s job is to care for the children and keep her husband happy while also doing her best for the Sect.

We reach the house and Elijah is nowhere near sleepy.

“Do you mind if I sit out here with him for a little while?” I ask Joahnna.

“Not at all. I’ll get Rye cleaned up.”

Elijah and I sit on the porch and look up at the night sky. The moon is big and bright. The stars shine brightly. It’s a clear night and you can see everything. Elijah is in a trance with the stars and we sit in the comfortable silence.

“Hey.”

I turn my head to see Katniss appear.

“What are you doing here?”

“Heading home.”

“You’ll be punished if they catch you here,” I tell her.

She shrugs her shoulders and comes to sit down beside me. “They won’t catch me.” Elijah takes her finger, grasping it in his hand tightly and she smiles at him.

“Seneca threatened me tonight,” I say.

“He likes doing that. He threatened me too, told me to quit sneaking out to see you. It’d give everyone a bad impression if I was caught in your bedroom in just my nightgown.”

“It would.”

“I don’t care,” she tells me. “I’m leaving this place and never coming back.”

“You won’t make it.”

“I will,” she replies. “If you don’t want to come with me then that’s fine, but I’m leaving.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Does your mom know?”

“Not yet. Prim does. She helped me get the blood out.” I bite my lip and I know she can see the sad look in my eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. You know it’s for the best that I prolong it for as long as I can. Another month is another month of planning. Of not being forced to marry.”

“Rye will take care of you.”

“I know he will, but I don’t want him.”

“You’ll live here with me. He’ll treat you wonderfully.”

“I don’t want him. To be tied to a man and bear his children for the rest of my life. I want to become something.”

“And what if you don’t make it?”

“At least I can say I tried.”

The sound of someone clearing their throat makes me whip around to see Johanna standing there.

“Hi Katniss. You best be getting back before they notice you,” she tells Katniss with a slight smile. “Come on Mr. Elijah, it’s bedtime.”

I hand Elijah over to Johanna, saying goodnight to him.

“Don’t go back together,” is all she says before she goes back into the house.

Katniss storms off down the path back to the party and I wait a few minutes before heading back myself.

The fertility ceremony is due to begin and everyone gathers to watch them. Eventually they are stripped from their clothing once the liquid from the goblet is drunk and they’re carted off to the house for the bedding ceremony.

I watch Madge’s father pick the discarded wedding dress up off the ground and grasp it tightly in his hands as he watches his only daughter leave for her new life.

I find Katniss’ eyes across the crowd and nod at her.

I wasn’t letting her leave alone.

* * *

Katniss makes it through her first bleed without anyone noticing. Her mother was too preoccupied with the impending birth and little Ash, and despite Katniss being in a full house, none of her family noticed she had become a woman.

Which bought Katniss some more time.

She meets me some nights in my room, telling me what she has managed to forage or steal for our departure. She’s managed to hide it in the woods, storing it in an abandoned bunker she found.

We don’t tell anyone we’re leaving. We’ll leave when the fence goes off, sneaking away from the group and hoping to get as far south as we can before sunrise.

She tells me her father’s friend will take us in. She has the address and the skills to navigate the wilderness. Her father taught her everything she needs to know to survive. Katniss is a survivor and she’ll continue to strive for survival until her last breath.

We agree to leave at the next ceremony.

* * *

Her mother delivers a baby girl two weeks later. Peony is a healthy babe who Katniss tells me is doing exceptionally well. She’s going to look exactly like her mother with fair hair, fair skin and blue eyes.

Peony is christened at four days old. All babies of the Sect are christened on their fourth day on earth.  The Prophecy tells us the number four is a lucky number and that being christened on the fourth day ensures protection from the Gods. They’re christened at 4am as the Gods are the closest to the earth at this time.

Everyone gathers to watch Peony be blessed by the Prophecy, the leaders and elders, celebrating the new life before they start their day.

For the rest of the day, the baby is blessed by everyone else. They bring gifts, treasures and blessings as she lies in a bed of flowers on the church’s altar. At 4pm, the blessings end and the baby is allowed to go home with her parents and begin her journey of babyhood.

I bless Peony on my own, giving her a dandelion I plucked from the woods and tucking it inside a pouch filled with rubies. Katniss watches me give her baby sister the dandelion and I bless little Peony before leaving the altar.

That night she climbs into my window. She hasn’t been here for five nights. As a rule, the family of the newborn isn’t allowed to leave the house until the babe is christened on their fourth day on earth. It’s a symbol of celebration and if anyone leaves the house, The Gods won’t visit the family and the babe will not be christened.

She didn’t want any reason for her sister to not be christened.

“I’ve missed this,” she admits to me as she cuddles into my side.

“Me too.”

We lay in silence for hours until she finally leaves.

But this time, she kisses me on the lips before she’s out the window and gone into the night.

And I’m left feeling the warmth she left behind.

* * *

No wedding ceremony takes place during the next full moon.

Nor do we leave.

Magnolia comes down sick and left bedridden for days.

It becomes another long month.

Tension is high amongst everyone in the community. Fights break out. Punishments are delivered quite often. Secrets are told. Gossip is spread. It’s hard to tell the difference between the truth and lies. More monitoring is undertaken. Rations are delivered. Rules change. The peacekeepers are out in full force.

I hardly see Katniss for the whole month. She’s made to look after her siblings and hardly has the opportunity to leave at night. She tells me Magnolia wakes with terrible nightmares. Prim hardly sleeps anymore. She’s become their mother, consoling them after nightmares and their restlessness. She’s left to care for Ash as Mallory begins to drift away from her older children.

Seneca asks the Prophet for another wife.

Mallory drifts into the silence and darkness she drifted into when her first husband was put to trial and eventually killed.

Katniss is soon taking care of Peony as Seneca wants nothing to do with the baby. He didn’t want girls, just boys.

One afternoon, we cross paths. She’s got the kids in tow, having collected them from school. I was finishing up training for the day.

She drops Ash’s toy. The kids walk on ahead of her.

“Here, you dropped this.”

I hand it back to her and in exchange, she slips a note into my hand before she rubs Peony’s back and smiles at me.

“Afternoon, Soldier.”

I nod goodbye to her and watch her walk on home with her siblings she’s become the caretaker for at the age of 15.

I wondered, would Prim step up to this role if Katniss left?

I wait until I’m safely hidden and out of sight before I read the note.

_Meet me at midnight by the hanging tree_

There’s still 16 days before the next wedding. There’ll be three weddings that day. One will be Seneca Crane taking in a 13-year-old girl as his sixth wife.

* * *

The hanging tree is the farthest tree in the meadow and the one with the most privacy.

Before midnight I dress. I sneak out of the window and walk down towards the meadow, using the dark shadows of the night as my defense. I walk along the fenceline and do my best to keep quiet.

Minutes before midnight, I make it to the tree and find that Katniss is nowhere to be seen.

I swallow the lump in my throat and think that she’s been caught.

“Psst, up here.”

I look up and see her on the branch above. I smile up at her and she smiles back.

“You coming down here? Or am I going up?”

“There’s a ladder,” she points out and I climb the rungs until I’m sitting on the same branch as her.

“The kids alright?” I ask her.

She nods. “They’ve finally settled down and are sleeping. I’ve convinced Prim to watch them tonight for me.”

“How’s your mother?”

“I don’t want to talk about her,” she replies softly.

“Ok.”

We sit in silence and before long she’s pressed against my body, her back to my chest. My arms are wrapped around her waist, her head on my shoulder.

I inhale the floral scent she carries with a hint of baby powder, and I pull her tighter against my body. She exhales a deep, shaky breath and sobs quietly into the night.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she tells me.

I press my cheek against hers. “You jump, I jump. Tell me when you’re ready and we’ll leave, okay?”

She nods and then turns to face me. Her legs rest on top of mine. Her fingers interlace between mine. She looks me deep in the eyes before she leans in to kiss me.

In the eyes of the Gods, only her husband could be her first kiss. Only he could be the first man to touch her. To gaze upon her. To take her virginity or have sex with her. To give her her first child.

We were breaking all the rules by kissing, holding hands. By being alone together.

“I don’t want anyone else but you,” she whispers against my lips. “My sun, my moon, my earth. My stars,” she whispers. “My life. My best friend. My soul.”

I smile against her lips, kissing them softly. “Meum sol, luna meum, terram mean. Stellae meum,” I repeat back to her. “Vitae. Amicus meus. Animus meus.”

We were Lunarian babes.

Assigned to be married to each other until her father was sentenced to death and our lives torn apart.

No one was ever happy with their match.

But we were.

We should have known it’d be gone in an instant.

“Amor vitae meae,” we say together.

I watch her run on home, and I climb back through my bedroom window.

My father sits on my bed.

“Where have you been?” he asks me.

“Nowhere.”

“You’ve been with her, haven’t you?”

I bow my head. “No, just out for a walk.”

“You’ve been gone for two hours.” He stands up and exhales. “Promise me, you’ll stop seeing her. It’s for both of your safety.”

“She’s my friend, Dad.”

“I know. But she can’t be your wife. She won’t be your wife. Magnolia will be.”

“She was supposed to be mine, Dad.”

“I know son,” he whispers and pulls me to his chest. “It’s not fair she was taken from you,” he tells me. “But she’ll become your sister-in-law. She’ll become your family. She’ll be taken care of. Rye will make sure of it.”

* * *

There’s a commotion a few days later. The yells and screams of a girl being dragged to stand before the Prophet.

This girl has bled for the first time.

Some girls go willingly.

Others go kicking and screaming.

Mostly the younger ones are those who go unwillingly.

I look up from my station to see who it is.

It’s Magnolia Everdeen.

My future wife.

“Congratulations, Peeta,” Cato snickers, patting my shoulder. “Still, she’s bled before her two older sisters, isn’t that odd. Oh well, you’ll be able to tell us what the Everdeen girls are like down there.”

Magnolia is just a baby. Just shy of turning 11 in a few weeks.

And now, I would be made to marry her. To take her virginity. To put a baby inside of her.

She’s just a baby herself.

I watch as Seneca drags her, a smirk on his own face. The joy that she’s finally out of his hair.

He looks across the yard, making eye contact with me. He grins wickedly before he pulls Magnolia inside the church.

There’s no escaping now.

I find Katniss right away. She has Peony on her chest and Ash at her side as she carries her family’s washing to the river. On top of the washing is the soiled clothing and bed sheets. Drying blood.

All hope lost.

“Katniss,” I hiss, trying to get her attention.

She looks up at me and I notice the tears in her eyes. The ones of lost hope and life.

She senses it as well.

 _Meet me at midnight,_ I mouth to her and she nods before reaching for Ash’s hand and leading him to the river.

I’m nervous. I shake as I count down the hours until midnight.

At dinner I was told I’d be married on the next full moon to Magnolia as the doctor confirmed she had started bleeding. My mother goes into wedding mode. My father and brothers look on with a hard look on their faces.

Magnolia would be the youngest girl married at 10 years and 10 months.

No one wants that title put upon them, or the dirty looks you receive from the women for bedding a 10 year old.

“But it’s the Gods will,” I’m reminded by one of my father’s wives. “You can’t change the law, no matter how disgusting it makes you feel. If you want to survive, you do everything you can to. You marry the girl, you bed her, you give her children. You earn your right to be within this community and you feel proud,” she tells me, tears welling in her eyes.

She too was young when she married my father.

But not as young as Magnolia Everdeen.

No one has been as young as her.

Rye and Wes come find me after dinner, entering my bedroom and shutting the door behind them.

“We’re sorry, Peeta.”

“Why me? She’s just a child. A baby still.”

“Not anymore,” Wes reminds me, swallowing the lump in his throat.

“Imagine if it was your own daughter,” I say to him. “How’d you feel if your ten-year-old was to be married off? You’d be sick, ashamed, wouldn’t you?”

“It’s what the Gods want.”

“A ten-year-old crying herself to sleep at night? No god would ever want that.”

“Listen, you can’t back down.”

“I can’t go through with it. I can’t marry her.”

“You have to. Do you want to be punished? Made into an Avox?”

“No–”

“There’s no buts, Peeta. You have to do this,” Rye tells me. “Just be thankful it’s you marrying her and not one of the older men. You don’t want them getting their dirty hands on her. Just keep your mouth shut. Not everyone is happy about their arrangements, but if you make a scene, you could potentially lose Magnolia to one of those men.”

“You’ll do this, Peeta. For her. For Magnolia, for Katniss, for Prim. You’ll do this for them all.”

At midnight, I dizzily find my way to the tree in the meadow. Katniss isn’t up the tree though. She stands near the fence, looking out into the woods.

“You know, they say there are wild creatures in the forest, terrifying beasts that could tear you in half with just their tusks, or drain your blood within seconds. They’ve told us this since we were young enough to be scared into never daring to leave this place,” she tells me. “But never once have I seen such a creature. And if there truly was something out there, wouldn’t they have ensured our safety by not switching the fence off? Or building a ten-foot-high concrete wall to keep them out?”

“Maybe they just don’t come this far.”

“Or maybe it’s because they want to inflict a fear that will keep us here within the fence. To keep us following Gods that I don’t believe are true anymore or to brainwash us into believing all of these lies they tell us.”

“Is this about Maggie?”

“Yes.” She finally answers after a long silence. “We can’t go now. You’ll be married to her. There’s no opportunity to leave now.”

“Do you trust me?” I ask her, reaching for her hand.

“Of course I do.”

“Then know that I’ll do everything in my power to keep her safe and happy. To ensure that you and Prim are protected. Trust me, Katniss.”

She nods, tears falling down her cheeks.

“I know this isn’t what we wanted at all but I’m the best person for Maggie,” I whisper, choking on my own words.

“I know you are. I just wish this wasn’t true.”

“Me either,” I tell her, hugging her to my chest. “But she’ll be safe under our roof, and so will you.”

“Do you think I should admit that I’ve bled?” she whispers into my collar.

I tense, squeezing my eyes together tightly and pulling her tighter against my chest.

“You do whatever you can to protect your family.”

She sobs. “Prim started bleeding last month.”

“She did?”

She nods and looks me in the eyes. “I helped her, like she helped me.”

“Do what you have to do to stay alive.”  She squeezes her eyes together, her face contorting in pain. “You’ll be under my roof if you admit to it,” I tell her.

“But Prim won’t be. Neither will the babies.”

“They have their family.”

“They won’t be looked after. Seneca despises my mother and the babies as much as he despises the girls. We’re the outcasts, the children of the traitor. We were brought into this house because we had to be. They don’t like us at all. The babies will be neglected.”

I look at her and feel my heart crushing.

“Don’t say anything. If they find out, it’s the first time you’ve bled, got it?” She nods. “I’ll figure something out. In the meantime, get ready, we’re leaving before the wedding.” I embrace her tightly. “Have hope.”

“That’s just a stupid delusion that got my father killed,” she cries. “That’s what got my father killed. You told me that years ago out there.”

“That was when I didn’t believe there was a better life for us.”

“We’re no better out there than we are in here.”

“You don’t know that,” I reply. “Your father was a smart man. He knew. He had the knowledge to not trust these people. He got into contact with the outside. He knew it was a better life for you all.”

“How do you know this?”

“Rye told me. Your father was planning to escape with you all. He had it all set in motion until he was caught.”

“Why didn’t he say anything to us? To Mom?”

“Because it’d get you all killed too,” I tell her. “He had hope. He believed in the dandelions. That life would go on. He believed in it and so did you. Don’t back down on me now Katniss, you’re my way of getting out of here. Of actually getting the chance to live.” I smile. “What do you say?”

She eventually smiles back.

* * *

I’m measured up for my suit the following day, dragged away from training to be measured up in the black I’ll wear as I declare my love for Magnolia.

Magnolia will wear a gown made by the seamstress assigned to her. Some dresses are elegant and made of pure silk or lace. Some are terrible.

Cinna, one of the Sect tailors, measures me for my suit. He was assigned to my family when Rye married Johanna and will make all of our suits for each of our weddings. Each time a man marries his new wife, he has a new suit made for him, similar to his first but slightly different, symbolizing which number wife he is taking.

“Been busy?” I ask him.

“I have,” he tells me. “I’m making another suit.”

“Whose?”

“Mr. Crane’s.”

I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Almost finished?”

“Mr. Crane’s is all but finished. They get a bit easier once you’ve been making them for the same person.” He tells me. “For your next wedding, I’ll have it started when the engagement is announced.”

“I don’t know if I’d want to be married to more than one,” I tell him.

“The more ties you have, the closer to the Gods you’ll be in the afterlife.”

“I don’t really care about that. As long as I please the Prophet, I’m sure I won’t be judged by the devil.”

“The Sect relies on the high population. The more people, the less work there is.”

“The more work. More people, more resources we need. More food, more protection, more everything.”

He doesn’t say anything and writes down my measurements.

“You’re right to go, son,” he tells me. “I’ll call you when I need you.”

“Thanks, Cinna.”

“My pleasure.”

Leaving his house, I open the door, running straight into Rye.

“What are you doing here?”

“Getting fitted for my wedding suit,” he tells me.

“What?”

He leans in towards me. “Katniss has bled. We’ll be married.”

“What?” I’m sure I haven’t heard him right.

“Katniss will become my wife,” he tells me. “I’m so sorry Peeta,” he whispers to me.

I take off in a sprint, hearing Rye call after me.

I crash into her.

And I know where she’s been.

She’s seen the doctor.

“Why?” I ask her.

“I had to,” she tells me. “I’ve got to go.”

“Katniss.” I reach for her arm.

“I have to go,” she tells me, ripping her arm from my grip. “I can’t be seen with you. I’m engaged.”

“Katniss.”

She turns on her heel and is gone from sight.

I excuse myself from dinner, unable to face The Prophet.

Wes brings me my dinner, setting it on the table by the door, and he sits down beside me.

“Something is coming,” he whispers.

“What?”

“Something is coming. I don’t know what, I don’t know when but something is happening.”

“Soon?”

He looks up at me. The look on his face is enough to confirm that it won’t be soon enough.

* * *

“Peeta.”

I open one eye slowly.

“Peeta.”

It’s still dark.

I’m on top of my covers. I must have fallen asleep, conked out at some point as the tears fell from my eyes. My dinner is untouched beside me.

“Peeta.”

I look towards the window and see her.

She climbs through my window, settling onto my bed beside me.

“What are you doing here?”

“To say I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologise for.”

“I do.”

“No. You’re protecting your family.”

“Prim’s mad at me.”

“She’ll understand.”

“You think?”

I nod and smile at her. “Of course.”

She doesn’t leave for hours. She lays beside me, her head on my chest, her arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

We don’t speak or move.

“Te amo,” I whisper into her ear.

“I love you too,” she murmurs back.

“I’m getting us out of here, Katniss. I promise you this.”

* * *

Three nights later, the church goes up in flames.

We see the bright orange flames from the woods, the smoke descending high into the night sky.

It’s symbolic seeing the fire burn the church. The place where we sat for years and listened to the Prophet tell us that if we disobeyed or denied The Gods, we’d meet a fiery end staring the devil in the eyes as we entered our next life.

We’d burn in hell, just like all those outside the fence. Like all those traitors and disobeyers who turned on the Gods, who didn’t believe that they had a meaning for us.

But now, the church is meeting its fiery end.

Just like the rest of Panem.

A tiny cry sounds from beside me and I look down at the baby, Little Peony who fights her swaddling.

Her big sister sleeps beside her, curled on her side, a protective hand on Peony’s belly. I told them I’d take first watch. We’d already walked over 5 miles to reach the mountain plus half a mile up the mountain and we were exhausted.

Shouts echo inside the fence from those trying their best to extinguish the flames. Those who are trying to break into the compound to pull the Prophet from his bed to show him what they think of his religion.

The people have turned. Have started to fight back.

But we didn’t want to stick around and be a part of it.

Wes told me something was happening. He just didn’t know when or where.

I knew we had to get out of there before we were killed.

The death toll will be high tonight if nothing is done. They’ll turn on each other in the end and that will be it.

We made peace and said our silent goodbyes to our families and friends.

It made it easier turning our backs on them all.

I lift Peony into my lap and rock her gently from side to side.

The possibility of her ever seeing her mother again is not great. We couldn’t move Mallory without the risk of being caught.

We were almost caught and I don’t doubt that we would have been shot on sight. The Prophet allowed the peacekeepers the opportunity to do so if they caught those out during curfew or near another person’s home.

Finnick Odair held his gun to my temple when he caught me outside of Katniss’ window this evening. It was risky entering the Prophet’s compound. I held my breath and waited to hear him pull the trigger and feel the bullet slice through my head.

But he helped us. He carried Ash in his arms along with a bag while I helped the girls out of the window and down to the meadow. He pulled the trigger on another peacekeeper and kept moving.

He didn’t remain behind. Instead, he followed us through the fence with his lover and hasn’t looked back since. A few shots were fired over our head by peacekeepers who had tried to follow us, but they were too scared and thought we’d be taken by an animal anyway. So they let us go.

“She alright?”

I look at Katniss and smile at her. “Yeah, just hungry I think.”

“We should be there in the morning,” she tells me, yawning as she pulls a bottle from the bag.

I nod and allow her to lean against my shoulder as we watch the fire burning.

“You should sleep,” I tell her, feeding her sister the bottle.

“Maybe in a little while. I just want to sit here with you for a while.”

“Ok.”

Everyone sleeps and we watch in silence. We let them sleep until dusk before we head off again.

We don’t know what is happening down there. As the night went on, the silence came and the fire died down.

They could be dead for all we know.

Peony sleeps on her sister’s chest. The rest of us carry the gear we managed to sneak off with.

Ash rides on Magnolia’s back, too scared to walk on his own until he finds the bright yellow flower is big sister sometimes brings him. The flower she tells him is magical, filled with hope and life.

He finds another. And another. And another.

And he’s determined to walk on his own, following the trail of dandelions out of the woods and to a yard where a man stands, tending to his geese in the midmorning sun.

He looks us up and down and grins. “I’ve been expecting you, Sweetheart.” He smiles.

* * *

Blades of grass stick to tiny bare feet.

The afternoon sun is slowly falling behind the horizon where a beautiful sunset is starting to form, signalling the end of another day.

The tiny feet kick and wiggle and we watch a bird fly overhead.

A mockingjay.

It sings its afternoon song and before long, we listen to the chorus of mockingjays sing as the sun slowly sets.

I look at her and she’s looking at me. My moon, my stars, my sun, my earth. The love of my life.

Her blue eyes flick in the direction of the singing mockingjays and we listen to them sing the song of the person they love to hear the most.

“You two coming inside?”

I look up and smile at her.

She’s still as beautiful as ever to this day.

Just now, she’s always smiling, always glowing.

Always so hopeful.

Even if she has a bad night filled with nightmares. Or wakes to my own.

She’s still smiling the next day despite our losses. Despite the pain. Despite the life we grew to know that slipped away, and we were forced to grow into a new life.

But that was for the better.

“Come on, everyone is here.”

I turn to my daughter beside me and smile at her.

“Come on, sweetie.”

I lift her up off of the grass. Her mother brushes the blades of grass off of her feet, and we walk on inside.

Our friends who have become our family stand with our family inside, just like they do at every other social occasion, discussing their days, their weekend plans, their jobs, their hobbies and their own family.

We’ve all grown together, found our dandelions along the way as the past ten years have flashed by us.

And I know we’re still to find more dandelions as time goes on.

Cooing sounds come from the armchair in the living room where a new baby lies in the arms of his grandmother. He’s sleeping, his little eyes pressed together.

But the soft coos he makes as he sleeps soundly in the warmth and comfort of his grandmother bring a smile to his own mother’s face.

We’ve built our own community, our own family since we escaped. A few survivors soon found their way to us after the fall of Panem, and we all healed and mourned together before we started our new lives, becoming people we never imagined we’d become, doing the unthinkable and conquering the new world, one day at a time.

And we haven’t let each other down. Even ten years on, we’re still there for each other.

There have been lots of questions asked, strangers stopping by, the phone ringing and knocks rapping on the door. They all want to know what happened in Panem, how we survived, what we believed and how we were raised. Who the Prophet was, the elders, the leaders. Was there sexual assault occurring? Was the polygamy true? How many wives did our fathers have? How many family members did we lose on that night of July 8th?

They don’t stop and haven’t stopped since they caught on that something went down behind the fence of that odd place they heard rumors about but weren’t so sure existed.

But we ignore them all.

My daughter, Luna, sits on her mother’s lap at dinner. We crowd around the table, all of us together for a meal to celebrate ten years.

“Haymitch, would you like to make the toast?” I ask him. He saved our lives, took us in that day we showed up and helped us ease into this new life slowly. Helped us think for ourselves, learn for ourselves, get jobs, go to school, learn the customs and ways and eventually learn to forgive our past lives.

“I think you should, Peeta.”

All eyes turn to me and I look around the table at each and every one. All of these people have touched my life in more ways than I could have expected.

We’ve all known loss. We lost a lot of our own family and friends, but that’s what has defined us. Made us stronger and taught us to cherish the greenness of the meadow during springtime. Made us stop and look at the dandelions and try our best to sing to the mockingjays.

I look at my wife, my Lunarian, and know that without her, we would not be here. Without her courage and her persistence, we would likely be with those thousands from our Sect who are buried beneath the meadow.

I look at my children: my daughter who has just turned three and takes the words of her song for granted, and my cherubic son who, at just three weeks old, is already so loved and cherished by everyone in his life.

I look at them and know we’ll survive it.

They are the children of two Lunarians, those conceived and born on a full moon, destined to be together and bring luck to their community.

We all have each other.

“To hope,” I toast.

“Ut spero.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr - herainab


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